Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has become the first woman to be named Australia’s richest person, topping Forbes magazine’s list of the 40 richest Australians after her fortune increased from $US2 billion to $US9 billion.
There were also a number of new entries from the resources sector, including QCoal’s Chris Wallin, Aquila’s Tony Poli, Nathan Tinkler and Travers Duncan all making their first appearance on the Forbes list.
Rinehart, who inherited her mining company Hancock Prospecting from her father Lang Hancock, has made her fortune from iron ore in Western Australia’s famous Pilbara region. However, she looks set to add to her fortune in coming years as she also expands into Queensland’s coal sector.
Rinehart beat out fellow iron ore miner Andrew Forrest for the top spot, although his fortune surged from $US4.1 billion to $US6.9 billion.
Media and gaming sector mogul James Packer, Westfield chief Frank Lowy and Meriton apartments chief Harry Triguboff have rounded out the top five.
Some departures included mining giant Clive Palmer, whose fortune is pinned at around $US570 million, and Ken Talbot, who was killed in a plane crash in Africa last year.
The net worth of the 40 richest was up by 40% from last year to $68.4 billion, Forbes said, with half of the list now billionaires, compared to only 13 in 2010.
Other names to benefit from the mining boom include John Grill of WorleyParsons ranked 27th with $US770 million) and Kerry Stokes (ranked 10th with $US1.9 billion).
But the list isn’t dominated by all miners. Health entrepreneur Paul Ramsay is ranked at 14th after seeing his fortune rise to over $1 billion, and veteran Melbourne investor David Hains is ranked ninth with $US2 billion.
Lindsay Fox has taken 11th place with a fortune of $US1.7 billion, while retail king Gerry Harvey has taken 17th, followed closely by Solomon Lew with fortunes of $US1.2 billion and $US1.15 billion respectively.
Last on the list was Billabong founder Gordon Merchant, with a fortune of $570 million.
The top 10 richest in US dollars:
1. Gina Rinehart – $9 billion
2. Andrew Forrest – $6.9 billion
3. James Packer – $4.4 billion
4. Frank Lowy – $4.3 billion
5. Harry Triguboff – $3.4 billion
6. John Gandel – $3.3 billion
7. Anthony Pratt – $2.7 billion
8. Kerr Neilson – $2.4 billion
9. David Hains – $2 billion
10. Kerry Stokes – $1. 9 billion.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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